Nat Geo shares its most popular Instagram photos in new exhibit

Inspiring rangers are hand-raising three baby rhinos at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya. The photo is part of the National Geographic exhibition "@NATGEO: The Most Popular Instagram Photos,鈥� open at the National Geographic Museum in Washington D.C. from November 11, 2016 鈥� April 30, 2017. (Ami Vitale/National Geographic) — Inspiring rangers hand-raise three baby rhinos at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya. The photo is part of聽the National Geographic exhibition “@NATGEO: The Most Popular Instagram Photos,鈥� open at the National Geographic Museum in D.C. from Nov. 11, 2016 to April 30, 2017. (Courtesy Ami Vitale/National Geographic)

PERMITTED USE: This image may be downloaded or is otherwise provided at no charge for one-time use for coverage or promotion of the National Geographic exhibit "@NATGEO: The Most Popular Instagram Photos.鈥� Copying, distribution, archiving, sublicensing, sale, or resale of the image is prohibited.

REQUIRED CREDIT AND CAPTION: Any and all image uses must (1) be properly credited to the relevant photographer, as shown in this metadata, and (2) be accompanied by a caption that makes reference to the National Geographic exhibition "@NATGEO: The Most Popular Instagram Photos,鈥� open at the National Geographic Museum from November 11, 2016 鈥� April 30, 2017.

DEFAULT: Failure to comply with the prohibitions and requirements set forth above will obligate the individual or entity receiving this image to pay a fee determined by National Geographic.

(Please note: you may select up to 6 images for online use and 3 images for print)

01:
Photo by Ed Kashi/National Geographic
These candy-colored homes in Port-au-Prince exemplify both the vibrancy and poverty of Haiti. — These candy-colored homes in Port-au-Prince exemplify both the vibrancy and poverty of Haiti. The photo is part of聽the National Geographic exhibition “@NATGEO: The Most Popular Instagram Photos,鈥� open at the National Geographic Museum in D.C. from Nov. 11, 2016 to 聽April 30, 2017.聽 (Courtesy Ed Kashi/National Geographic)

Nat Geo’s Instagram exhibit聽is seen here. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

Nat Geo’s Instagram exhibit is seen here. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

Nat Geo’s Instagram exhibit features some of its best photography. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

Nat Geo’s Instagram exhibit will be open until April. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

Nat Geo’s Instagram exhibit shows off some of its best photos. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

Nat Geo’s Instagram exhibit runs now through April 30, 2017. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

Nat Geo’s Instagram exhibit聽runs now through April 30, 2017. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

Nat Geo’s Instagram exhibit includes some awe-inspiring photos. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

Elephants are part of the Nat Geo’s Instagram exhibit. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

People take in the exhibit that is part of FotoWeek DC. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

The photos aren’t only of nature at FotoWeek DC. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

The photos at FotoWeek DC may inspire you to take a few more shots. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

If the photo strikes an emotional chord, visitors can actually record their own thoughts and feelings on the photo. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

Nat Geo photos at FotoWeek DC have also been put into a commemorative book. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

The exhibit at FotoWeek DC includes聽eight little nooks where visitors can sit and look at each Instagram photo and hear the photographer鈥檚 description. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

The folks at the in Northwest D.C. have teamed up with 聽to host this year鈥檚 . (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

National Geographic鈥檚 Instagram account has more than 63 million followers, so you may have seen the photos on your feed. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

An opening party celebrated the exhibit. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

People gathered for the exhibit’s opening party. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

At the opening party, people look at the colorful and powerful exhibit. (草莓传媒/Maggie Bartolomeo)

(1/36)

Share This Gallery:

change volume

April 30, 2026 | 草莓传媒's Jason Fraley previews Nat Geo's new Instagram exhibit (Jason Fraley)

WASHINGTON 鈥� Photographs allow us to capture memories as they unfold and have the power to open our eyes to parts of the world that we have never imagined.

As a tribute to this powerful work, the folks at the in Northwest D.C. have teamed up with 聽to host this year鈥檚聽(Nov. 12-20), a hub dedicated to celebrating art and photography, providing exposure for photographers worldwide.

One of the most anticipated exhibits is 聽which runs now through April 30, 2017, highlighting the best聽Instagram photos by Nat Geo photographers.

Since the founding of the organization, the National Geographic Society鈥檚 photographs have brought awe and inspiration to many. Now, with the rising popularity of the media-sharing app Instagram, more and more people are capturing, viewing and sharing global moments than ever before.

National Geographic鈥檚 Instagram account, , was opened in 2012, and is now one of the app鈥檚 top-followed accounts, with more than 63 million followers and more than 1 billion likes on its 12,300 posts.

The @NatGeo exhibit displays more than 200 of the account鈥檚 most popular photographs, ranging from competitive water skiers to a glorious and haunting supermoon.

When visitors first walk into the @NatGeo exhibit, they are welcomed by a man-sized iPhone, displaying a magnified view of the @NatGeo Instagram account.

Alan Parente, creative director for exhibitions and global experiences at the National Geographic Society and curator of the @NatGeo exhibition, says that the layout of the exhibit鈥檚 design symbolizes聽how we get 鈥渓ost鈥� in social media.

鈥淲e created a maze,鈥� Parente told 草莓传媒. 鈥淲e decided to shrink everyone down so that you鈥檙e actually entering the feed.鈥�

The @NatGeo exhibit is a colorful, dazzling playground, featuring 30-foot-by-30-foot boxes stacked on top of each other in various themes around the room, displaying the Instagram photos and their corresponding descriptions in larger-than-life view.

The exhibit also offers eight little nooks where visitors can sit and look at each Instagram photo and hear the photographer’s description. If the photo strikes an emotional chord, visitors can actually record their own thoughts and feelings on the photo. Selected visitor recordings will be placed at the end of the original photographer’s recording, allowing visitors to become a part of the exhibit.

Kathryn Keane, vice president for exhibitions at the National Geographic Society, said the organization has also published a commemorative @NatGeoas a hardback聽collection of all of the photographs displayed in the @NatGeo exhibit. Keane says the book 鈥減rovides a photo show of the terrific and intrepid photographers who have defined this institution for so many years.鈥�

National Geographic photographer fellow Cory Richards is the official spokesperson for the book and his work is prominently featured in the exhibit. He’s been working with the National Geographic Society since 2009. He聽became a photographer after overcoming a tumultuous adolescence and found that rock climbing and photography gave him a visual tool to document the human struggle.

Richards is enthusiastic about technology allowing people to instantly become photographers.

鈥淏ring it on,鈥� he said.聽鈥淲e need to see this exhibit as a fun, interesting, new way to engage … with social media, but also take it as a real time to stop, pause and think about the impacts these images have. They literally can change the planet, and I think this is a very beautiful reminder of exactly that.鈥�

The @NatGeo is on sale everywhere books are sold, including at the exhibit.

Tickets for the exhibits start at $15 and can be bought聽at .

change volume

April 30, 2026 | 草莓传媒's Jason Fraley previews Nat Geo's new Instagram exhibit (Jason Fraley)

草莓传媒